1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mower-conditioner comprising at least one mowing group equipped with cutting elements that rotate around axes directed upward and a conditioning group associated with said mowing group and equipped with conditioning rollers between which the crop cut by the cutting elements passes, said conditioning roller being guided in rotation at each of their ends in a bearing solid with a corresponding lateral wall.
2. Background of the Related Art
These mower-conditioners are used to mow the crop, then mechanically process the cut crop to accelerate its drying. This mechanical processing is performed by the two rollers which extend behind the cutting zone of the cutting elements and between which the crop cut by the cutting elements passes.
The crop cut by the cutting elements is forced to pass between the rollers by the simultaneous action of throwing performed by the rotating cutting elements and of snatching performed by the rollers.
So that all the crop undergoes the desired processing, all of the cut crop must pass between the rollers. Now, it has been found, under certain crop conditions, that a portion of the crop cut by the cutting elements extending in the vicinity of the lateral walls supporting the rollers does not pass between the rollers. This is unacceptable both because this crop does not undergo processing and because it will be difficult to gather at a later time.
In DE-A-2 231 624, a mower-conditioner is known like that described above, which has in the vicinity of each lateral wall a deflector extending at least partially into the flow of crop cut and thrown backward by the pair of cutting elements placed near said lateral wall. Said deflectors are vertical and are directed backward in an inclined manner, considering the direction of work and toward the middle part of the mower-conditioner, i.e., away from the lateral walls. Moreover, the part of said deflectors intended to extend at least partially into the flow of crop cut and thrown backward is approximately planar. In top view, each deflector extends between the corresponding end cutting element of the mowing group and the corresponding lateral wall of the conditioning group. In this way, the conditioning rollers of the conditioning group extend relatively far behind the cutting elements of the mowing group. The crop cut and thrown backward by the cutting elements must thus travel a relatively great distance before arriving in the snatching zone of the conditioning rollers. This is particularly true for crop which is thrown against the deflectors and which must then be deflected toward the rollers. Now, since the crop which strikes the deflectors undergoes a certain braking and since these deflectors extend vertically, it can happen that, under certain conditions, crop thrown against the deflectors falls on the ground without penetrating between the rollers.
The deflectors of this known mower-conditioner have, in addition, a front edge in the form of a sharp edge extending very close to the drum which surrounds the corresponding outside cutting element. This introduces a great drawback. If pieces of cut crop arrive in the space between the front edge of the deflector and the corresponding drum, they will get caught there and create packings. This is due to the fact that the end of each of said pieces of crop which extends to the outside of the deflector is pulled outward by the drum while the end of each of the pieces of crop which extends to the inside of the deflector is pulled inward by the flow of crop. In this way, the pieces are folded by the sharp edge which prevents them from being released.